happen again.
Chapter 12
On Monday, there were two dozen red roses waiting for Delia in the main office of Saxon Arms Academy. She closed her eyes, sucked in a deep breath and silently prayed they were from Jason although she knew that was highly unlikely. He never even sent her flowers when they were dating. The card didn't have a name, just the opening words to “
Bewitched
. ” They'd danced to Frank Sinatra's version of the song their last night on the cruise. For a moment, her heart fluttered and her lips involuntarily curved into a smile. She could almost feel his arms around her as he held her close.
Then she came to her senses. What a schizophrenic psycho! That was the only logical explanation. He had to be clinically insane. What else would possess him to do something like this?
Delia pressed her eyes shut, breathing in deeply. Then again maybe she was overreacting. Maybe he was just being sweet, realizing that she could use some cheering up after the weekend she'd had. Now she was beginning to think
she
was the schizophrenic one.
"Secret admirer, Ms. Clark?" Norma, the main office receptionist, asked with an expression of nosiness on her plump face.
"What? No, no secret. There's nothing secret at all about it. Um, they're from ... my husband. Yeah, my husband."
"I thought you were divorced." Norma tilted her head kind of like a confused puppy.
"Right ... almost divorced. It's not final yet. I guess he's trying to reconcile." Delia tossed the card in the trash and dashed out of the office before Norma could fire off any more questions.
***
Delia and her student Lena laughed and joked as they walked arm in arm against the blistering wind toward P.F.Chang's .
"I can't believe we're actually doing this," Lena said, entering the restaurant. "I've never left campus in the middle of the day."
"I know. I feel so bad. But neither of us will miss a class. We'll be back before anyone even notices we're gone." Delia hung up their coats and tried to flag down a waiter. "Besides, after the weekend I've had, I deserve a break."
"Ditto."
Delia studied Lena's suddenly distressed face. She knew something had to be going on in Lena's life. She had been withdrawn and sad lately in class. Sneaking off campus to go to lunch was just a way for Delia to get her alone and try to find out what was going on.
"And if anyone asks, I'll say we were doing research for a class project or something," she smiled and tried to lighten the mood as the waiter led them to their seats.
Not having experience talking with troubled teens, she didn't quite know how to start the conversation. She really hadn't thought this out too well. Thinking that the problem stemmed from her not having a boyfriend or not being popular or something, Delia decided to start by relating her own high school experience.
"You know, you remind me so much of myself when I was in high school," she said after they had ordered.
Lena gave her a ‘yeah, right' expression and said, "Oh, please. You're a gorgeous genius and I'm a frumpy retard."
"I probably would have said the exact same thing when I was in high school. I had serious self-esteem issues. I still do."
"Really?"
Delia noticed tears in Lena's eyes. She decided it might be best to tell her the story of her life. Maybe she could help Lena avoid some of her own mistakes.
"I was a skinny, awkward nerd in high school. I had no friends except my extremely popular and beautiful sister and guys only talked to me if they needed help on their homework.
"My looks, my lack of social skills, and the fact that my own parents never wanted me succeeded in making me feel completely worthless and incompetent. Sometimes I would go home and just cry for hours because I just hated myself."
Delia thought she noticed a tinge of recognition in Lena's eyes at that statement. They sat in silence for a moment as Delia tried to think of the right things to say that could help Lena.
"But things got better in
Chapter 12
On Monday, there were two dozen red roses waiting for Delia in the main office of Saxon Arms Academy. She closed her eyes, sucked in a deep breath and silently prayed they were from Jason although she knew that was highly unlikely. He never even sent her flowers when they were dating. The card didn't have a name, just the opening words to “
Bewitched
. ” They'd danced to Frank Sinatra's version of the song their last night on the cruise. For a moment, her heart fluttered and her lips involuntarily curved into a smile. She could almost feel his arms around her as he held her close.
Then she came to her senses. What a schizophrenic psycho! That was the only logical explanation. He had to be clinically insane. What else would possess him to do something like this?
Delia pressed her eyes shut, breathing in deeply. Then again maybe she was overreacting. Maybe he was just being sweet, realizing that she could use some cheering up after the weekend she'd had. Now she was beginning to think
she
was the schizophrenic one.
"Secret admirer, Ms. Clark?" Norma, the main office receptionist, asked with an expression of nosiness on her plump face.
"What? No, no secret. There's nothing secret at all about it. Um, they're from ... my husband. Yeah, my husband."
"I thought you were divorced." Norma tilted her head kind of like a confused puppy.
"Right ... almost divorced. It's not final yet. I guess he's trying to reconcile." Delia tossed the card in the trash and dashed out of the office before Norma could fire off any more questions.
***
Delia and her student Lena laughed and joked as they walked arm in arm against the blistering wind toward P.F.Chang's .
"I can't believe we're actually doing this," Lena said, entering the restaurant. "I've never left campus in the middle of the day."
"I know. I feel so bad. But neither of us will miss a class. We'll be back before anyone even notices we're gone." Delia hung up their coats and tried to flag down a waiter. "Besides, after the weekend I've had, I deserve a break."
"Ditto."
Delia studied Lena's suddenly distressed face. She knew something had to be going on in Lena's life. She had been withdrawn and sad lately in class. Sneaking off campus to go to lunch was just a way for Delia to get her alone and try to find out what was going on.
"And if anyone asks, I'll say we were doing research for a class project or something," she smiled and tried to lighten the mood as the waiter led them to their seats.
Not having experience talking with troubled teens, she didn't quite know how to start the conversation. She really hadn't thought this out too well. Thinking that the problem stemmed from her not having a boyfriend or not being popular or something, Delia decided to start by relating her own high school experience.
"You know, you remind me so much of myself when I was in high school," she said after they had ordered.
Lena gave her a ‘yeah, right' expression and said, "Oh, please. You're a gorgeous genius and I'm a frumpy retard."
"I probably would have said the exact same thing when I was in high school. I had serious self-esteem issues. I still do."
"Really?"
Delia noticed tears in Lena's eyes. She decided it might be best to tell her the story of her life. Maybe she could help Lena avoid some of her own mistakes.
"I was a skinny, awkward nerd in high school. I had no friends except my extremely popular and beautiful sister and guys only talked to me if they needed help on their homework.
"My looks, my lack of social skills, and the fact that my own parents never wanted me succeeded in making me feel completely worthless and incompetent. Sometimes I would go home and just cry for hours because I just hated myself."
Delia thought she noticed a tinge of recognition in Lena's eyes at that statement. They sat in silence for a moment as Delia tried to think of the right things to say that could help Lena.
"But things got better in
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